Cured meat products such as ham and bacon are conventionally prepared by treatment of fresh meat with a curing solution containing alkali metal nitrite, sodium chloride, sugar, and spices, as well as additional materials for accelerating or modifying the cure.
The nitrite has a unique and distinctive function in that it provides bacon and ham with their characteristic cured color while at the same time protecting the product against dangerous food-spoiling microorganisms such as Clostridium botulinum.
Unfortunately, minute amounts of undesirable nitrosamines may occur in meats, particularly bacon, which have been cured with nitrite-containing curing solutions and which have been cooked by methods in which the fats reach relatively high temperatures. For example, N-Nitrosopyrrolidine and dimethylnitrosamine are found on frying bacon, the cook-out fat containing the highest proportion of these nitrosamines, with N-Nitrosopyrrolidine being present in the greater amount. These nitrosamines are not found in the cured and processed meat. Apparently, the temperature attained by the fats in frying or equivalent cooking processes facilitates the reaction of alkali metal nitrites and amines of the meat to form nitrosamines. Since N-Nitrosopyrrolidine and dimethylnitrosamine have been found to be carcinogenic in tests on experimental animals, they are regarded as a potential hazard in human food products. It is desirable therefore to find a means for reducing or preventing the formation of these substances in cooked meat products while at the same time retaining the use of nitrite for its essential color formation and anti-botulism function.